12 Reasons I Loved The Doctor Who Christmas Special

Last year, the Doctor Who Christmas special was a Christmas-ruiner that had me in an endless loop of hardcore ugly-crying.

To this very day, I cannot watch this episode without bursting into ugly, horrible tears. So I was quite concerned when rumors started breaking that this Christmas we would have another downer with the departure of Clara Oswald. Mercifully, we avoided having another Christmas-ruining, heartbreaking Christmas special. Actually, as someone who generally doesn’t care much for the Christmas specials, I was actually quite a fan of this year’s special. Apart from the plot itself (timey-wimey, alien-infused Inception? Yes, please), here are 12 reasons–in no particular order–why I loved the Christmas special:

1. Clara is sticking around! This one is the big one, so I thought I’d get it out of the way right off the bat. I am so very happy that she isn’t leaving the show. I was just started to get attached and interested in her character and her relationship with Twelve. It would have been such a shame to shut that down before the two of them really had a chance to become really close buddies. Of course, her sticking around another season only means her departure will be that much more tragic (and could very likely happen next Christmas since she’s on board for the whole of season 9), but that’s for Future Kendall to worry about.

2. Nick Frost as Santa is everything. Frost was a brilliant Santa. He brought a good measure of heart, sass, and fun into the character. His portrayal was exactly as I would like to image Santa would really be–er–how he really is.

3. Twelve. It was subtle, but Clara picking 12 packed a big feels punch for me. If you’ll recall in the episode “The Bells of St. John”, when she asks the boy she is nannying what chapter the boy is on, he responds saying he’s on chapter 10. She then says “Eleven’s the best. You’ll cry your eyes out.” I miss Matt Smith just as much as the next Raggedy Man fan, but I’m so glad to see that Clara is starting to warm up to Twelve just as much as I am.

4. Facing your fears by dancing. It was a brief moment, but I loved it just the same. Her coping methods spoke to me on a spiritual level.

5. The Doctor is still as tactless as ever. Clara may be sticking around, and the Doctor may be finally climbing down from his high horse, but Twelve will never be the gooey teddy bear of a man that Eleven was. I have to be honest, I kind of like it that way.

6. The nod to Trenzalore. Remember back with Eleven was crazy old, prior to his regeneration, and Clara had to help him open the Christmas cracker? I sure do. It was very sweet to see the Doctor care for Clara in her old age like she cared for him when he was old. He’ll always be rough around the edges, but he will always love Clara. It was also terribly sweet that he kept telling her that he didn’t notice the drastic change in her appearance as Old Clara.

7. The Doctor’s soft spot for Clara. I am loving their shift in relationship. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Doctor have a companion he was just mates with. Their friendship is just too cute, and the way the Doctor acted around Clara during the special–especially given how rude he had been to her all season–just makes my heart grow two sizes.

8. Alien jokes. Because the Doctor looks like a human, the show doesn’t always use the opportunities it has to crack a bunch of alien jokes. Happily, they made a TON of alien jokes, my favorite pictured above, in the Christmas special.

9. Santa vs. The Doctor. Even though he turned out to be a product of everyone’s dream, I loved watching the Doctor and Santa square off.

10. Danny Pink. I loved him, I miss him, and I’m so sad that he’s gone. I’m glad we got a bit more time with him. I’m gonna go ahead and begin my five minutes of properly missing Danny now…

I really wasn’t a huge fan of Clara for the longest time. I mean, when she was a Dalek, that was pretty cool, but then, meh. Then she met 12. Something clicked there, and for the first time, I did like her. I’m glad she’s not going; I adored Danny Pink far more than I expected to, and losing her would have been a bit much for me.